The Book of Lost Friends is the perfect balance of historical and contemporary fiction. I have a book hangover. This story stays in your mind and heart. Three young women embark on a journey through Louisiana and Texas to find their lost family members. Their story is based on the advertisements that were placed in the “Lost Friends” column of the Southwestern Christian Advocate in the post-Civil War era when freed slaves tried to find lost family. What makes the story compelling is the way the author interweaves the strength, bravery, determination, and resilience of these women into the current day story of a struggling teacher, her students, and the history of their own ancestors. She not only teaches us an important part of our nation’s history but how that history, both bad and good, can be a foundation upon which we can draw strength, courage and build our own future. I don’t remember the last time I read a book with tear-filled eyes, my hand on my heart, and felt inspired all at the same time. The Book Of Lost Friends is a satisfying reading experience and simply excellent. Many loved Miss Wingate’s previous book, Before We Were Yours, but I believe she’s taken The Book Of Lost Friends to a whole new level. Many thanks to both Net Galley and Ballantine Books for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The publish date is April 7th.

A brutal but deeply involving story post civil war slavery when old institutions crumble and the South suffers. A century later Louisiana still feels the the brokenness of the least among us. The lost of both eras make up this moving tale.

The writing in the 1887 part of this novel is amazing. With a sure hand, Ms Wingate writes in the dialect of the time which gives the story an authentic feel. All of the characters in both 1887 and in 1987 are so human on the page that their plight sucks the reader in. I loved the historic value of this story as I had never heard of the published advertisements after the Civil War as a way to reconnect families split through slavery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for the ARC to read and review.

Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. I did not care for the dual story lines. I usually enjoy books by Lisa Wingate.

Hannie and Benny are characters with whom you'll immediately fall in love. Alternating chapters between a free black woman in Louisiana in 1875 and a young teacher in New Orleans in 1987 leave you wanting more with each turn of the page. Ms. Wingate has once again created a story based off of historic events in American history that just pull at your heart strings. The Book of Lost Friends would make an excellent book club choice for any group!

Told in two timelines, this was an ethereal and starkly honest story. Wingate is a master storyteller and her writing sings.
Many thanks to Ballantine Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

In 1875 Hannie is concerned with living - as a former slave and sharecropper her most urgent concern is that Mr. Gossett and "Missus" don't back out of the contract and getting to keep the small piece of land she works with Tati and Jason and John, her makeshift family. They are all she has since her family was separated -- stolen and then sold off. However, an unexpected visit from Juneau Jane, Mr. Gossett's illegitimate daughter changes the course of Hannie's future forever.

In 1987 Benny Silva is trying to start her life - she has just started her first teaching job in rural Louisiana, a place with strong historical ties and connections she can't untangle. Benny is also trying to sort herself out - she and her fiance broke up before the move and now she is trying to make amends with her past and start a future.

Lisa Wingate does it again! I LOVED this book. Both storylines were very appealing to me, and I know she researched this well so I feel like I learned something too. I will be recommending this book to everyone that enjoys historical fiction and moving stories.

This novel goes back and forth between Hannie, in the years following the Civil War, and Benny in the late 1980s. Hannie is a former slave who was separated from her family and she obviously wants to find them again. Benny is a teacher at a low income school who wants her students to care about something. Both characters go on journeys, one literally and one figuratively, to help others find their “lost friends“, but in doing so, they actually find themselves. This is an outstanding book that discusses some hard racial topics, but I feel it handles the difficult situations well. I enjoyed the back and forth between the two characters. I was always so invested in the character I was reading about, but always excited to get back to the other character to see what she was going to do next. I love how Lisa Wingate picks pieces of history that aren’t glamorous, but she chooses to write about the nitty gritty stuff that people should know more about. I’m already looking forward to her next novel.

Thanks for Netgalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

With the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, what better time to celebrate remarkable women? Although The Book of Lost Friends is fiction, it is inspired by an actual collection of newspaper listings published from the 1870’s until the early 20th century from former slaves seeking news of their family members scattered by auction and war. The author, Lisa Wingate, recognized there was a tragic story behind every bare request and set out to bring one in particular alive. One half the narrative is told by young Hannie Gossett who leaves her adopted share cropper family in Louisiana to track down the former slave owner who has disappeared, She means to confirm that the property they have cultivated for 9 years will become theirs the following year, as Master Gossett had originally promised. And always, she is looking for her family. In undertaking this search she is forced to join forces with the daughter of the plantation owner as well as the mulatto daughter of the slave owner and his mistress, who has come from New Orleans to claim her inheritance. All three disguise as boys and begin a perilous journey that only becomes more dangerous as the days go by. Hannie mnust rely on her courage and internal sense of right and wrong to navigate the horrors of the post-Civil War South. She is a remarkable young woman and her voice speaks for an entire generation of forgotten people.
There is another voice in this book, However, this part of the story is told by a narrator as we move forward 100 years and watch a young inexperienced teacher try to connect with the students in the same town in Louisiana that was home to Hannie. Bennie is an outsider, but more than just her unfamiliarity with the culture and history of the town, she has wounds of her own that drive her to make choices that set her on a collision course with the Establishment of Augustine, Louisiana.
Between the two times periods and the two women there are the “Lost Friends” listings from the Southwestern newspaper that keep us focused on what is at stake. Each time the reader leaves one of these complex women and is ready to continue the story of the other, we are confronted with the stark and poignant recounting of a different family scattered to the winds. It is made even more heartbreaking by the spare prose of a newspaper ad.
As the two stories rush headlong to their separate endings, the pieces fall into place and reach a wonderful intertwined conclusion
. In this time of searching for our roots with online services and DNA samples, it is thrilling to live the stories that that make up a family tree. This is a book for anyone who likes history, mystery and strong women.

What I Loved:
Well, I loved EVERYTHING about this book. The Book of Lost Friends gave me an absolutely stunning story with amazing characters, adventure, a quest for answers and missing people, and above all, insight into the history of the time. It was a beautiful story, and I cannot say enough how much I loved this book.

How I Felt:
After reading Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, I knew that I wanted to get my hands on The Book of Lost Friends once the release had been announced. Her ability to write about a time in history is one-of-a-kind. She creates a dual-timeline for the story, giving you perspective into the historical timeline as well as the present-day timeline and the impact the history had on today.

The writing brings the reader in immediately. Lisa Wingate’s words describe the feelings, atmosphere, and danger so well, a reader is completely absorbed into the story. It’s fabulous and I so appreciate her ability to write this way. This specific story had some connections within the characters and timelines that were done so well. There were connections within each timeline as well as between the present and the historical one, and I loved them all!

The character growth in both the present day and the historical storylines was amazing. In the past, there’s Lavinia, Juneau Jane, and Hannie. All three of them grow in a different way, and it was beautiful. Prejudices fall away, familial bonds are created, and what is truly important in their lives becomes clear.

In Before We Were Yours, even though I loved the book SO much, I was less connected to the present-day characters. In The Book of Lost Friends, I was equally connected to the present-day and historical characters. Here, the story was bigger than the one character, Benny. It’s about Benny’s entire classroom and the town as a whole. Benny though has her own character growth that was beautiful. She starts as a teacher at a new school and is angry at a class that is out of control. It was a bit reminiscent of Sister Act, actually. Her work to control and teach her class was amazing and gave me chills by the end.

The story begins with Hannie, a slave, losing each of her family members as they are illegally sold off on a trip from her plantation home to Texas. Hannie is the only one of her family that is recovered by their original owners. She has memorized each family member’s name, age, name of the person that purchased them, and the location where they were sold. This becomes a mantra she repeats as she grows up, always looking down the road hoping to see her family coming to get her after the emancipation proclamation. Hannie’s story really begins when she pretends to be a male driver for Miss Lavinia and Juneau Jane. Lavinia is the Master’s daughter and Juneau Jane is also the Master’s daughter but from a different woman. What begins as a quick trip for these three, ends up as one filled with terror, danger, secrets, escapes, rescues…and clues to Hannie’s past.

In the present-day, Benny is starting as a teacher in a new school. She’s living on part of the old plantation’s land and begins to understand a bit of the history from a variety of sources. She’s struggling to teach a group of children that aren’t reading at their grade level, aren’t getting fed at home, and aren’t getting the support they need from the community or from home. When she starts a history project to understand their own family history, she stirs up secrets long-hidden.

So, what’s a Book of Lost Friends? You’ll read all about this in Hannie’s story. Emancipated slaves used a newspaper listing, that would be read by preachers all over, to advertise that they were looking for family members. Lisa Wingate inserts actual Lost Friends ads in her book between the chapters and they are heartbreaking, but I really loved their addition. I found that it made the overall story so impactful as I continued to read the real advertisements.

Overall: This was a wonderful story. I loved the characters and their journey. It is a book that I will be recommending for a long time.

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend The Book of Lost Friends for historical fiction fans that enjoy stories of travel, friendship, and antebellum south.

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This was historical fiction at its best. Wingate provides vivid historical detail and authentic tones and expressions relative to the period of 1875 to the late 70's. The dialogue and plot pull you in to a mesmerizing piece of history that I had never known about. It is also a love letter to books so I dare anyone who is a book lover to not be affected by reading this novel. I was caught up by the story of a black slave(Hannie) who becomes freed, a yellow skinned mistress(Juneau Jane) of Hannie's master, and the daughter(Lavinia) of the master. The three unlikely trio sets out to discover the families lost during this post civil war area and are faced with issues of war, bounties, and harried adventures. The birth of the Lost Friends journal begins with them, with Wingate providing authentic letters that have survived history books and the underlying stories of residents from their town. In these letters, many slaves tried to discover their lost families who were taken from them and separated through the time of indenture. The tie in between Bennie's story and Hattie comes in the last fourth of the book, and totally caught me off guard. This is a novel to be savored,devoured ,and kept on a prominent page of
your bookshelf.

This is historical fiction that beautifully ties together the past with the present. The past intertwines with the present in a most ingenious way, which I really enjoyed. And Ms. Wingate has introduced me to another part of our history that I hadn't been aware of: the Lost Friends advertisements that appeared in some newspapers after the Civil War as a way for people to find their families that had been torn apart because of enslavement.

One story takes place in the 1870's and follows Hannie, a freed woman and sharecropper, as she sets out to find the man who can help make sure the land she's been working will actually be turned over when the contract is up. She joins Lavinia, the daughter of the slave owner who headed the plantation where Hannie grew up, and Juneau Jane, Lavinia's half sister and favored daughter of the same man.

The three women leave Louisiana for Texas in search of Mr. Gossett and discover the Lost Friends adverts. Along the way, they meet many formerly enslaved people who are searching for family. Juneau Jane and Hannie write down their names and information and promise to do what they can to help.

The other story takes place in the 1980's and follows Benny, a new teacher who has gone to rural Louisiana to teach in an underfunded school. She tries to find ways to connect with the students and discovers that the past is still present in so many ways.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In The Book of Lost Friends Lisa Wingate brings us a powerful story set in Louisiana 1875where a female freed slave looks for family separated during slavery and tries to help others find their lost loved ones. This story alternates with Louisiana 1987 where a young female educator teaches her students about that time in history having them research their ancestors. The author portrays strong independent women trying to forge through difficult times and the value of trust and developing relationships. I will definitely recommend this book to my book clubs.

The Book of Lost Friends
by Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate writes a beautifully moving story based on historical events. The author has taken actual advertisements from the “Lost Friends” series of posts that were published post civil war by people hoping to reunite with family after they had been separated through slavery. The book follows three females in their journey to attain their specific needs: for two young women, it is a rightful inheritance; for Hannie, her family.

The alternate timeline is 1987 when first year teacher, Benedetta (Benny) arrives in Louisiana to teach at a small town middle school. The students and townspeople are reluctant to welcome her. Benny’s perseverance and discovery of a very important historical document bring her students to purpose and the town to a decades (centuries) long resolution of rightful acknowledgment.

Historical fiction fans will really appreciate the 1800’s journey of Hannie, Lavinia, and Juneau Jane. I personally enjoyed the 1987 dated chapters following Benny and her experience of being a first year teacher and the challenges of classroom acceptance. The unexpected romance aspect of Benny’s experience was so believable, beautifully told, and a wonderful addition to the story.

Lisa Wingate is absolutely superior in her writing talent. Her depth of involvement into the characters and story based on historical events is nothing less than excellent.

I rated this book as ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and recommend it without hesitation.

I was given a complimentary advanced e book copy by NetGalley and Ballantine Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This story, told in split time (1875 and 1987), explores the post-Civil-War struggles of former slaves as they attempted to make their way as free people with very limited opportunities in the South and reconnect with family members lost to the slave trade. A teacher in a small Southern town discovers a cache of classic books in an abandoned estate, and this leads her to educate her students about their local history — even when it didn’t make the locals look good. (Netgalley review)

While it was a bit slow to start, this book ended very strongly which lead me to my rating. This story is a dual story line happening 100 years apart with Hannie, a freed slave, attempting to find her former master with his daughters to determine whether or not he would uphold his promise of land; the Benny story line is a teacher new to the area in the 19080s attempting to engage her uninterested students in literature by coming up with a local family history project.

I was much more interested in the Benny story line than the Hannie one in the beginning. It was only about halfway through that I really got into the book as a whole. Overall I really liked where the story went, and was pleased again with Wingate's writing style. However, it took a little too long to get where it was going in the beginning. I'm glad I finished it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early version of this novel.

Not quite as compelling as Before We Were Yours but a good story with interesting historical facts mixed in.

This book was not as captivating to me as Lisa's other novels about Georgia Tan, but I did find that the writing was good and I was genuinely entertained by the story!

Although at first I wasn’t as gripped by The Book of Lost Friends as I was by Wingate’s Before We Were Yours, by the end I liked it nearly as much. The story is told from two perspectives—one of a first-year teacher in a small Louisiana town in 1987, and one of a former slave and young woman sharecropper in 1875. The individual stories are each compelling in their own right but by the end, they are powerfully woven together to tell the story of a town, a family, and the searches both women undertake to find their lost loved ones. The story was based on real Lost Friends ads placed in a Methodist newspaper in the late 1800s by former slaves seeking to reunite with their lost loved ones. The story was illuminating and hopeful. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.